Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes (Easily gluten-free, too!)

I love me my pancakes. I've probably said that before. It's sad, though, that they have so little nutritional value. Makes it harder to just make them and eat them. But then I came across this recipe that I just HAD to try. Oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes? Yes, please! It's really cool. It's oatmeal. Cottage cheese. And eggs (or egg whites). Simple enough? I think so. I was a little skeptical of how they might taste, but I really should not have been. I shared a few bites with my taste-testers, who were shocked at how simple and healthy it was. And I put a delicious butter-free grapefruit curd on it to give it a kick flavor. That definitely helped. But the grapefruit curd has its own post. Let's focus on the pancakes for now.

The recipe tells you to blend it all up in a blender or processor, but if you have quick oats (what was on hand in the kitchen the first time I made them) you can just mix it with a spoon. It gave it a really nice texture that everyone appreciated. If you have old-fashioned oats, you REALLY need to at least blend (or food chopper) those a bit  in a blender or processor so that they make a more cohesive batter. The batter is already thick and I spread it out with the measuring cup I was using for a scoop. I used 2% cottage cheese this time, but I would try it with small curd whole milk cottage cheese, too. The original recipe used all egg whites, but I used a mix (some of the yolks went into the topping).

I had these around lunch time, and they all disappeared or I would have saved some for a snack. They are hearty enough for that. And are good with peanut butter, too. The cottage cheese and egg combination puts them through the roof in protein, and oatmeal is (obviously) a whole grain. You can also make it gluten-free if you use gluten-free oats! To make it any more nutritious, it.... I can't think of anything.

Mmmm... blueberries & lemon curd!

Made in the blender - Brown nicely and no burn marks!

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Serves: 2-3 Time: Depends on your pan/griddle size - 20-30 minutes

1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned) (Gluten-free is an option, too!)
4 eggs or 8 egg whites
Butter or spray oil for pan

- Turn on pan or griddle to medium or medium high
- With quick oats: Mix all ingredients in a bowl or in a processor/blender
- With old-fashioned oats: Process/blend oats and add to bowl with other ingredients, mix (or blend/process all of it for a smoother batter)
- When pan is hot, butter or spray with oil
- Pour into pan using 1/4 to 1/3 cup per pancake. Flatten with scoop if you did not blend it.
- Cook on first side until edges look done and a few air bubbles stay at the surface
- Flip, cook until the color you like is reached

Nutrition info (1/3 of recipe, with 4 eggs): Cal - 255 Fat - 9.1g Protein - 21.3g Carbs - 21.6g

Nutrition info (1/3 of recipe, with 8 egg whites): Cal - 213 Fat - 3.4g Protein - 23.5g Carbs - 21.8g


The dark spots in the picture are where the cottage cheese was at the surface, it didn't taste burnt at all.

Made without a blonder or processor, bigger oatmeal chunks and don't stick together as well. Still tasty!